Chashme Buddoor (1981 film)

Chashme Buddoor (transl. Far be the evil eye) is a 1981 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film^[a] written and directed by Sai Paranjpye, adapted from Paranjpye's teleplay Dhuan Dhuan. The film stars Farooq Sheikh, Deepti Naval, Saeed Jaffrey, Rakesh Bedi, Leela Mishra and Ravi Baswani. The story revolves around three close friends, two of whom (Bedi and Baswani) fall in love at first sight with a girl (Naval), but fail to woo her. After discovering that the third friend (Sheikh) is dating the girl, they plot to end their relationship.

After watching Sparsh at a film festival, producer Gul Anand, asked its writer/director Paranjpye for an escapist film, who then came up with an idea, based on her Doordarshan teleplay Dhuan Dhuan, which after some input from Anand would form the screenplay, and the casting followed. Principal photography took place in Delhi. The music was composed by Raj Kamal. The film's themes include Delhi itself, nostalgia, bachelorhood, romance and parody of Hindi film clichés.

Chashme Buddoor was released on 8 May 1981 and became a box-office hit. The film also received five Filmfare Awards nominations, and has been referred to as a classic. It has since gained a cult following. Two remakes, Malayalam-language Odaruthammava Aalariyam directed by Priyadarshan and Hindi-language Chashme Baddoor directed by David Dhawan, were released in 1984 and 2013, respectively.

Siddharth Parashar, Omi Sharma and Jomo Lakhanpal are close friends and roommates who are enrolled in Delhi University. While Siddharth loves to spend most of his time studying, and has an M.A. in Economics and is preparing for Ph.D, Omi and Jomo are mostly busy chasing girls. The only thing common among the three of them is smoking. They buy cigarettes from a local paan shop owned by Lallan Miyan.

One day, Omi and Jomo spot a girl named Neha Rajan from their balcony and try to impress her one by one by their antics. However, both of them gives up after going through shameful experiences.

After a few days, Neha visits their flat as the salesgirl of Chamko washing powder. Omi and Jomo quickly hide, as soon as they spot her from the peep hole. Siddharth meets Neha, and after a conversation, sparks fly, and they soon begin to date and love blossoms between them. They begin to consider marriage. Meanwhile, he also gets a job in a company, whose manager happens to be Neha's father, a fact that Siddharth is not aware of. He gets impressed by Siddharth, and sees a prospective son-in-law in him, unaware in his turn that his daughter is already dating him. However, one day, Omi and Jomo accidentally discover Siddharth and Neha together. In a fit of jealousy, they plot to end their relationship, which would also help them avenge the embarrassment inflicted upon them by Neha. They successfully character assassinate Neha, and Siddharth soon breaks up with her. Depressed and melancholic, he begins to lose interest in his work.

After accidentally discovering poison, Omi and Jomo, mistakenly thinking Siddharth is considering suicide, confess everything. Siddharth visits Neha, who is not responsive towards the abrupt change in his behaviour. Neha's grandmother, seeing Neha's predicament decides to take matters in her own hands and visit Siddharth, who happens to be outside. Omi and Jomo, who has never seen her, finds out who she is, and together they form a trio and decide to reunite the couple. As a spate of kidnapping, especially of young girls, is taking place in Delhi, they plan a fake kidnapping attempt of Neha, which is to take place outside a temple where her grandmother will take her. Siddharth gets cryptic and vague instruction by Omi and Jomo to be there too, so that he can witness the kidnapping, 'save' her and reconcile their relationship. However, she is kidnapped by the real gang and the trio is left in the lurch. Siddharth, rightly assuming the kidnapping as real, fights them and hands them over to police who arrives at the scene with Lallan Miyan, Omi and Jomo. Siddharth and Neha profess their love to each other and gets married.

• Farooq Sheikh as Siddharth Parashar
• Deepti Naval as Neha Rajan
• Saeed Jaffrey as Lallan Miyan, the local paan shopkeeper
• Rakesh Bedi as Omi Sharma, Siddharth's roommate and friend
• Leela Mishra as Dadi Amma, Neha's grandmother
• Ravi Baswani as Jomo Lakhanpal, Siddharth's roommate and friend
• Vinod Doshi as Neha's father
• Ranjan Grewal as Neha's brother
• Amitabh Bachchan as himself
• Rekha as herself
• Kimti Anand as the waiter (uncredited)^[1]
• Sai Paranjpye as a customer to Lallan Miyan (uncredited)^[6]
• Vinod Nagpal as music teacher (uncredited)^[7]

After watching Sai Paranjpye's debut Sparsh at the Tashkent Film Festival, producer Gul Anand asked her for a "pure fun, feel-good film with no social message." She proposed a film based on her Doordarshan teleplay, Dhuan Dhuan, about three friends, who one by one, try to befriend a girl, whom they saw from their terrace, and all of whose efforts go up in smoke (dhuan). Anand liked the idea, but wanted one of the three to be a "hero material: sensible, studious, helpful, hard-working," whose love story should "blossom, not go up in smoke." Paranjpye acknowledged that many key features of the story such as the character of Sheikh, his romance, the elderly personae, were all additions made at the behest of Anand.^[8][9] The name of the female lead, Neha, was suggested by lyricist Indu Jain.^[10] Some elements were also borrowed from 1981 Tamil-language film Indru Poi Naalai Vaa.^[11] The kidnapping idea could have been inspired by actual kidnapping-murder of two young siblings that took place in the late 1970s Delhi.^[2]

Paranjpye acknowledged the influence of American sophisticated comedies and the works of Charlie Chaplin. Even though expressing admiration for Hrishikesh Mukherjee, she admitted that neither him nor her contemporaries influenced the production of the film.^[12] Jayshree Anand-Makhija went uncredited as a producer.^[6]

Farooq Sheikh wanted to work under a respected banner, when Anand signed him.^[13] Poonam Dhillon was originally considered for the role of Neha.^[14] Paranjpye wanted Deepti Naval, "an actor who did not look larger than life, rather someone who the youth of the country would relate to," who was then eventually cast.^[15] Sheikh and Naval went on to make Saath Saath (1982), Katha (1982), Kissi Se Na Kehna (1983), Rang Birangi (1983), Faasle (1985) and Listen... Amaya (2013) together.^[14]

Saeed Jaffrey, a London-based BBC and West End play actor, was looking for a suitable break in Hindi film industry, when Anand offered him a role in the film.^[13][16] He spent an inordinate amount of time with 50-odd paan-kiosk owners of Old Delhi in honing his character, Lallan Miyan, "to observe the body language, mannerisms, language and its nuances," Paranjpye wrote.^[9] He was also very particular about his character's name. Names such as Lachhan, Fumman, Gulshan, Jumman, Dadoo and Babban were rejected, until one day the name Lallan came to him.^[13] He was actually taken for a real paanwala (paan vendor), as someone tried buying paan from him.^[9]

A then-recent FTII-graduate Rakesh Bedi was recommended by Anand to Paranjpye; she saw some footage of his class exercises and selected him. Paranjpye was adamant on casting Leela Mishra. Mishra was strict about her payment and ended up being the only actor in the film who was paid her usual fees, of "₹1,000 (equivalent to ₹20,000 or US$240 in 2023) per day."^[13]

Naseeruddin Shah, who had known Ravi Baswani from the latter's theatre days in Delhi, was visiting Delhi when Baswani happened to read Paranjpye's script for Sparsh. Impressed, Baswani begged Shah to recruit him as his spot boy, who was then eventually hired for props. Baswani liked to joke that it's entirely possible that Paranjpye offered him Chashme Buddoor as a "bonus" for his backstage work in Sparsh.^[17] He was only paid ₹3,000 (equivalent to ₹61,000 or US$730 in 2023) for the role.^[13]

Vinod Doshi was the chairman of Premier Automobiles Limited.^[3] Kimti Anand and Vinod Nagpal had a background in theatre and Doordarshan serials.^[7]

Principal photography took place in Delhi.^[18] About the flat where Siddharth, Omi and Jomo lived, Paranjpye said that, "we found an ideal flat in Defence Colony. A roomy hall with a terrace running around it. An additional staircase for quick getaways made it perfect for some of our scenes."^[2] "The unit lived in that house," Aditya Arya, still photographer of the film, recalled.^[9] Found in Vasant Vihar, South Delhi; Neha's home was described by Paranjpye as a "neat little doll’s house, complete with a garden."^[2]

The open garden restaurant scenes were shot in Talkatora Garden.^[19] Siddharth, Omi and Jomo meet outside Central Cottage Industries Emporium, Janpath, Connaught Place (since relocated); the three of them were flying balloons in the garden surrounding India Gate (since restricted); the three of them could be seen passing Purana Qila on their bike.^[9] Jomo leaving the clinic after getting beaten was shot in Khan Market; Siddharth picks Neha in Mandi House; Lutyens' Delhi could be seen during the motorcycle rides of Siddharth and Neha;^[3] the paan stall was located in Nizamuddin, Mathura Road, South Delhi;^[2] Omi's dream sequence was filmed on Badkhal Lake, Faridabad; and the climax was filmed on the slopes of Tughlaqabad Fort.^[9] Hauz Khas, Okhla and Mehrauli were also among shooting locations of the film.^[20]

Paranjpye said that Sheikh was "disciplined to a fault. Never touched cigarettes or liquor." To show a "chain-smoking hero" she'd "cut the shots as soon as he raised the cigarette to his lips.^[9] Meena Kumari in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Zeenat Aman in Qurbani, Sadhana in Rajkumar and Nutan in Paying Guest were parodied during Omi's fantasy scene where Neha auditions for him^[4] The washing powder Chamko, used in the film, which Naval's character sells, was actually a brand available in the market at that time.^[21] The paan stall was erected by a tobacco company. As a result, cigarettes and tobacco of the company's brand was displayed across its walls.^[13]

Sheikh's fellow IPTA (Indian People's Theatre Association)-mate Bedi was simultaneously shooting for the film Apna Bana Lo (1982), where his character was clean shaven, and Chashme Buddoor, where his character Omi sported a thin-line moustache. To circumvent this, he'd go to the washroom and draw a line with pencil a few inches above his lips before each shoot. One day, while he was wiping his face, half of the line got erased; he only found out when Sheikh couldn't control his laughter. Paranjpye was furious at this.^[9]

The film originally featured a different ending which was discarded because Anand thought that it was not commercially viable.^[18] Originally titled Dhuan Dhuan, the film's title was to change, much to Paranjpye's initial chagrin, until she came across the expression chashme buddoor (may the evil eye be kept away).^[9][14] It was Paranjpye's second film to be completed, but the first to be released, because Basu Bhattacharya, producer of her debut film Sparsh, didn't choose to release his film until later.^[8]

All the songs were composed by Raj Kamal and penned by Indu Jain.^[22]

In addition, Mehdi Hassan's "Ye Dhuaan Sa Kahan Se Uttha Hai" opens the film, and "Hum Tum Ek Kamre Mein Band Ho" (Bobby) plays on the radio when Siddharth and Neha first meet.^[3][23]

Furthermore, "Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya" (Mughal-e-Azam), "Aap Jaisa Koi" (Qurbani), "Tumne Pukara Aur Hum Chale Aaye" (Rajkumar) and "Chhod Do Aanchal, Zamana Kya Kahega" (Paying Guest) were parodied.^[24]

The songs, barring one, were praised by Chander Uday Singh.^[4] Vijay Lokapally wrote that the mindlessness of "Pyaar, Lagawat, Pranay, Mohabbat" were compensated by "Kaali Ghodi Dwar Khadi" and "Kahan Se Aaye Badra."^[3]

Describing her film as a heartfelt tribute to Delhi, Sai Paranjpye wrote that the "film would explore the length and breadth of the beautiful city and lay bare its soul."^[2][12] Rakesh Bedi, who hails from Delhi, said, "Delhi is a character in Chashme Buddoor. I’ve not seen Delhi so participative in a film. Films may have been shot there, but without naming the places or going overboard in showing the locations; the beautifully picturised city became an integral part of the narrative." Aditya Arya, still photographer for the film, said, "Delhi was like a village before that." The film, shot right before, "will remain a visual-history lesson of what Delhi used to look like."^[9] Namrata Joshi said that "it makes you long for Delhi of the '80s, quiet and laidback."^[7] Diptakirti Chaudhri wrote that the film had "an old-world charm around it, along with a sheen of fantasy," and that in the film, Delhi was "spacious, misty and had an air of wistfulness about it."^[10] Aseem Chhabra has called the film "an ode to Delhi long gone." Elaborating, he said that Defence Colony, where the three friends shared a barsaati, "is now home to expats – journalists working for foreign publications, diplomats, and Indians with strong business ties. Students cannot imagine living in Defence Colony now;" the garden surrounding India Gate, where the three friends were flying balloons, "is now a restricted area as the government has dug up most of green space for the planned Central Vista Redevelopment Project;" Mathura Road, where the paan stall was erected used to be "practically empty." Though, counterpointing, he argued that through the kidnappings, "Paranjpye was definitely hinting at the fact that all was not well in the serene Delhi she presented to the audience."^[2] Similarly, Lokapally wrote, "those were times stalking did not exist. When Jai exclaims girl, there is no malice in his intent." Bedi remarked, "terms like voyeurism were unknown then."^[3] Subhash K. Jha commented, "protagonists' cheesy pick-up lines were never offensive."^[25]

Nivedita Mishra wrote, "Sheikh and Naval was what middle-class romantic couples looked like, even the college going ones. There was warmth, friendship and an innate civility about their onscreen romance."^[11] Jha wrote that the film "harks back to that era of innocence when college students chased girls all across town hoping to get them to agree to a coffee or a movie. Sex, if at all, was never discussed," commenting further that Siddharth and Neha "decide to forge a relationship probably because they haven't met too many potential soul-mates to choose from."^[25] Joshi called the film about "the times when jaunty young men could fall for girls in two-plait hairstyle," and "the theme of friendship, jealousies and misunderstandings coming in the way of love" timeless.^[7] Sudhish Kamath pointed out how "the loveable slackers Jomo and Omi did their best to woo women on the streets of Delhi with very little luck",^[26] "but it was only the idealist Siddharth who succeeds in finding love," wrote Anupama Chopra.^[27]

"Paranjpye captures the essence of bachelor life so beautifully," Lokapally wrote, "the room-sharing experience a lovely throwback to days when it was a necessity in student life."^[3] Filmfare wrote, "it was funny and equally insightful about young men at the time."^[6] Arushi Jain jokingly referred to the scene where Siddharth offers Neha a homemade laddu in a cup, "of course, how can you expect a bachelor pad to have proper utensils."^[23] Joshi pointed out coconut shell ashtrays.^[7] Jha called the film a "heartwarming window into the soul of the middle-class," and thought that the trio smoking all through the film were "a sign of those relatively innocent times when youngsters smoked because they thought they looked cool doing so."^[25] According to Bollywood Hungama, the trio "survived more on cigarettes than food."^[24] Farooq Sheikh said, "Paranjpye had a great eye for detail, for picking up the commonness of life and celebrating that."^[28]

Filmfare noted, "scenes where Baswani and Bedi take turns in explaining their fake romantic overtures with Naval are classic examples of parody."^[6] Similarly, Jain pointed out the scene where "Siddharth and Neha make fun of Bollywood’s classic trope of lovers breaking into a song randomly in a park."^[23] Referring to the same scene, Kamath wrote how they were "laughed at by the regulars at the park" when they attempted an impromptu duet.^[26] Bollywood Hungama points out the scene where the waiter was told to come back later, who then in turn said that he would be back after interval "right at the stroke of actual interval of the film."^[24] Jha commented, "lovers avoid being filmy, but don't mind if they woo one another with songs and poetry."^[25] Joshi pointed out the titles where a woman's hands replaced the man's in the director credit.^[7]

In comparing the film's "nothing"-ness to Seinfeld, Mahmood Farooqui wrote, "how little it was about anything, justifying the epithet 'breezy' that has come to be forever associated with Sai."^[8] Jha pointed out how "the characters, who inhabit the middle-income group are untouched by suffering," and how the film is "strewn with a warm bonhomie that suggests a sense of equilibrium in the universe even when human intentions are far from legitimate or sensible."^[25]

Pointing out the scene when Siddharth and Neha first meet, Jain wrote, "this entire scenario might be hard to comprehend for a generation that can’t look up from their phones for a second – let alone invite someone in for five minutes."^[23]

Chashme Buddoor was released on 8 May 1981,^[5] and became a box-office hit.^[3][8]

Sheikh's performance was praised by Chander Uday Singh.^[4] Anupama Chopra and Business Standard termed him "perfect."^[27][28] Though, Vijay Lokapally was more reserved, finding him "less compelling" than usual.^[3] Naval "delivers superbly" per Lokapally.^[3] In contrast, Singh said that she "carries off the part a little too well."^[4] Sheikh and Naval's chemistry was praised by Subhash K. Jha^[25] and Lokapally, who said that "they appeal as an ideal pair."^[3] Jaffrey's performance was praised by Chopra^[27] and Lokapally.^[3] "His acting lifts the movie out of any mundane slots it might have dropped into," according to Singh.^[4] Bedi's performance was praised by Lokapally,^[3] Business Standard^[28] and Bollywood Hungama.^[24] According to Singh, he "fit neatly" into his part.^[4] Baswani's performance was praised by Singh,^[4] Lokapally^[3] and Business Standard.^[28] He was called a "comic genius" by Shaikh Ayaz^[17] and Tanushree Ghosh labeled him the "funny bone" of the film.^[9] Bachchan and Rekha's chemistry was praised by Bollywood Hungama.^[24] The ensemble cast was praised by Jha,^[25] Arushi Jain^[23] and Namrata Joshi.^[7]

Paranjpye's writing was praised by Filmfare,^[12] Bollywood Hungama^[24] and Joshi,^[7] though Jain was less positive about it,^[23] and Singh found the plot formulaic.^[4] Joshi and Bollywood Hungama found the film's pacing "unhurried."^[7][24] The film's humor was praised by Filmfare as "enduringly heartfelt,"^[12] and Bollywood Hungama found it "laced with innovative comic sequences."^[24] Singh also found the film funny.^[4] The ending was considered "deliberately over-the-top" and the score "suitably deafening" by Joshi.^[7] Omi's fantasy-scene, in which Neha auditions before him for a screen test, was called "hilariously executed"^[4] and "simply superb."^[24] Omi and Jomo chasing women and designating them as preys were deemed problematic by Jain and Chopra.^[23][27]

Naval got the moniker of Miss Chamko after the film, and Neha became a popular name in the 1980s.^[10][23]

The film has been referred to as a classic.^[b] Bollywood Hungama called the film "a reference point for innumerable films made on male bonding or life-after-college bonhomie."^[24] It has since gained a cult following.^[c]

At the 29th Filmfare Awards, the film received five nominations^[5]:

Nominated

• Best Film – Gul Anand^[24]
• Best Director – Sai Paranjpye^[24]
• Best Supporting Actor – Saeed Jaffrey
• Best Comedian – Rakesh Bedi
• Best Comedian – Ravi Baswani

A Malayalam-language remake, Odaruthammava Aalariyam, directed by Priyadarshan was released in 1984.^[3] Reportedly, Onir was considering a remake of the film in 2009.^[24] Sai Paranjpye was disapproving and reportedly appalled when it was announced that David Dhawan was to helm a Hindi-language remake.^[26][33] A digitally restored version of the original Chashme Buddoor was released in 40 screens domestically, alongside its Hindi-language remake Chashme Baddoor, on 5 April 2013, a first for India, when an original film and a remake were released simultaneously.^[18]

• Nayee Padosan (2003), which shares a similar plot
• List of cult films
• List of Hindi films of 1981

• Chashme Buddoor at IMDb
• Chashme Buddoor at Rotten Tomatoes